Apparatus for drying and destroying municipal wastes



May 10, 1938. .1. HARRINGTON APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND DESTROYING MUNICIPAL WASTES Original Filed Dec. 21, 1931 kin m A l Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND DESTROY- ING MUNICIPAL WASTES Joseph Harrington, Riverside, Ill.

Original application December 21, 1931, Serial Divided and this application August 3, 1936, Serial No. 93,966

My invention relates in general to the treatment and disposal of municipal waste, including garbage, sewage and the like.

An important object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for progressively dewatering liquid sewage and reducing the same to combustible dryness, and finally burning the combustibly dry residue for its final sanitary disposition, all as a continuous process; a further object being to provide for the utilization of heated gas for reducing the liquid sewage to combustible dryness by projecting the gas through the waste in such a way that the moisture content thereof is progressively reduced to a point where it becomes combustibly dry, whereby the continued projection of heated gas through the sludge causes the dry residue spontaneously to ignite and be consumed.

Another important object of my present invention resides in controlling the temperature of the heated gases so that the gas projected through the sewage is progressively reduced in temperature more or less to correspond with the reduction inthe moisture content of the waste, in order to prevent ignition or charring of the waste by subjecting it to gases of high temperature before the residue becomes combustibly dry, and this aspect of my invention includes also means for subjecting the dry residue to the action of gases at a temperature sufliciently high to produce spontaneous ignition of the residue.

My invention is preferably, but not necessarily, carried out as a continuous process so that the municipal waste of relatively high moisture content, including liquid sewage, may be continuously and uninterruptedly subjected to heated gases in order to reduce the moisture content progressively and thus produce a sewage residue in combustibly dry condition and then spontaneously to ignite the residue and cause its consumption by burning, this aspect of my invention including the further feature of utilizing the heat of combustion of the dried residue to aid in the reduction of further quantities of sewage to combustible dryness.

Yet another object of my invention resides in the provision of means for the sanitary disposition of liquid sewage, including means for forming the sewage and supporting the same as a traveling bed of sludge while simultaneously projecting heated gases through the bed during its traveling movement, in a manner to progressively reduce the bed to combustible dryness, ignite it and cause the consumption of the material thereof by burning.

These and other objects of my invention will be apparent from a perusal of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein is illustrated, rather diagrammatically, one type of apparatus for carrying out my process.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a sideview, rather diagrammatically disclosing one type of apparatus for carrying out my invention; and

Figure 2 is a detailed view of the heat exchanger.

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein is disclosed a selected form of continuous drier and incinerator for the sanitary and commercial disposition of municipal wastes, including garbage and liquid sewage, it is to be understood that the form illustrated is purely by way of exempllfying the advantages of my broad invention and process and that other constructions and apparatus may be utilized for carrying out my process.

Municipal wastes should be understood as including what is generally known as garbage, consisting of table refuse, vegetable matter of all types, meat scraps, bones, paper scraps, small bits of wood, and frequently street sweepings, stable refuse and all other forms of discarded organic material. The foregoing excludes what is known as the furnace refuse, or ashes, which in most municipalities is separately collected and separately disposed of. Garbage naturally varies in moisture content in various cities and in various parts of cities, depending upon the presence of industries utilizing organic material in their processes. Normally, however, residental garbage will contain about 80% of moisture. Such elements as banana skins, vegetable leaves, vegetables such as beets, potatoes, turnips, etc.', will contain as high as 90% or over in moisture, whereas meat scraps, bones, bits of wood, paper 40 and the like have a much lower moisture content. Authorities in the disposition of municipal wastes are agreed, however that an average moisture content of 80% is an accurate figure for estimating purposes. It must be understood that all of the foregoing is strictly solid material and in no sense a fluid or liquid, although the garbage may contain enough moisture to leak or run out if allowed to stand in a pile sufliciently long to drain.

Sewage. is understood to mean the eilluent from sanitary sewers and is primarily composed of human wastes together with fibrous materials, small bits of wood, but all in a highly liquid state. Sewage as ordinarily obtained contains or ferric chloride have heretofore been added to the raw sewage prior to any filtration process. My process, while it includes the dehydration and burning of coagulated and filtered sewage, is primarily concerned with the treatment of raw untreated sewage just as it emerges from the sewer (which may be condensed by simple settling or sedimentation) wherein the raw material is flowed onto the perforate conveyor, subjected to the heated gas treatment as hereinabove stated. However, it is an essential element of my treatment that the albuminous or the gelatinous elements remain in the material during the preliminary de-watering or drying and remain on the belt or conveyor as a thick, viscid mess con taining solids in highly concentrated form. In this condition they are extremely adhesive or sticky and cannot be removed from the conveyor surface except by extraordinary and impractical means. By the application of heated gas at suitabletemperature as practiced in my invention, the albuminous substances are changed or .00- agulated so that all the solids resulting therefrom, together with the solids in the original liquid, are left as a deposit on the conveyor. results in high shrinkage in volume of the material so that the resultant cake shrinks in form as compared to the original fluid and thereby becomes non-adhesive and this feature, combined with the severe shrinkage of the material, causes its self-detachment from the supporting surface so that when the end of the dryer is reached the dried material reaches combustion chamber 38, the shrinkage of the material provides voids in the layer on the pervious surface which causes sharp and thin edges to form, thus facilitating ignition and also providing cracks or fissures in the bed or blanket to permit the passage of heated gas therethrough, for the purpose of burning the material.

In the form illustrated, I provide a continuous chain belt 2 passing over the end sprockets 4 and 6 together with means for moving the belt in a continuous manner. If desired, means may be provided for interruptedly moving the belt. The links of the belt carry cross bars which in turn carry spaced-apart longitudinally extending barlike elements arranged in overlapping relation to form a perforate surface.

These bar-like elements provide a grate surface, the spaces between the bars being substantially 1/40th of an inch so as to permit heated aeriform fluid to be projected therethrough, while at the same time permitting the bars to pass around the sprockets at the end of the path or travel of the belt. I prefer to have this distance 1/40th of an inch more or less whereby to take advantage of the surface tension of the liquid to maintain itself upon this slotted carrier, without passing through these slots, particularly when no air is being projected upwardly through the slots, it being understood that when air is being projected through the slots the air itself, in addition, acts as a supporting medium for the liquid sewage This process on the carrier. However, it is to be distinctly understood that my invention is not limited to a carrier having slots of 1/40th of an inch, or less width, to provide the surface tension support above recited, but that the invention is broader in its scope in, that it includes slots, foraminations or openings in the carrier of much'greater width and through which liquid might ordinarily flow in a quiescent state, but when such wider slots are used, the arrangement will be such that as the liquid sewage is poured onto such a slotted carrier, the velocity alone of the heated gas projected through the slots, irrespective of the surface tension, serves to support the liquid on the conveyor. In addition, the surface beneath the upper reach of thebelt is constructed to provide a plurality of isolated chambers 8, I0, I2, I4,

and I6 by means of spaced partitions I8, 20, 22,

24, 26, and 28, suitable means being provided for maintaining these stationary chamber-forming partitions in sealed contact with the shiftable sludge supporting grate-like surface 30 of the drier in the manner shown in my application Serial No. 582,098, filed December 19, 1931, now Patent No. 2,062,025 issued November 24, 1936.

In accordance with the invention of my present process, the path of travel of the municipal waste supporting surface of the combined drier and burner is divided into two zones-first: a drying zone comprising the area-over the chambers 8, I0,

I2, and I4, and a burning zone comprising the area over the chamber I6. The chamber forming the burning zone is formed with a lining of heat-insulating material 32. The heating zone chambers above the travel of the carrier are provided with a hood 34 adapted to catch the heated aeriform fluid which is discharged thereinto, whereas the chamber above the burning zone or chamber I6 is provided with an additional hood 36, lined with heat-insulating material 38 which is adapted to catch the gases of combustion and also the heated aeriform fluid, and convey the same by means of pipe 40 to a blower 42. This blower is connected to a furnace or stoker 44 from which products of combustion will pass, as indicated by the arrow 46, into the blower, and along with the hot products from the pipe 40 are passed or forced into the intake conduit 48 and from thence into the heat exchanger 50. The hot products of combustion and gases pass therethrough and out the gas outlet 52, while the air from the air inlet 54 passes in counter-direction and isolated from the hot products of combustion through the heat exchanger. Air is then passed through the discharge pipes 56, 58, 60, 62, and 64 and is projected by means of suitable blowers 66 through pipes 68, 10, I2, 14 and I6 and 18 to chambers 8, Ill, I2, I4 in the drying zone, and chamber IS in the burning zone. It will be noted that each of the pipes from 68 to I4 is provided with separate, adjustably-controlled dampers and air inlets 80, 82, 84, and 86, and means is also provided for controlling the speed of rotation of the blowers whereby not only the temperature of each chamber 8, I0, I2, and I4 may be controlled, but also the volume of the heated air through the porous bed of the traveling drier. In this way the drying efiect longitudinally of the travel of the bed may be suitably controlled. For instance, by these ad- 'justments, the temperature of the heated aeriform fluid passing through chamber 8 may be regulated to 1,000 degrees; that of chamber III, to 900 degrees; that of chamber I2, to 600 degrees, and that of chamber I4, to 300 degrees. These temperatures are merely illustratively selected. 15

It is to be understood that any desired range of temperatures and velocities of projection of the heated aeriform fluid may be utilized, depending upon the nature of the garbage, liquid sewage or other material to be treated and consumed. It will be noted that the residues or ashes from the combustion zone are utimately discharged from the end of the drier into an ash conveyor.

Any desired means is provided for automatically and continuously forming a blanket or layer of garbage and/or liquid sewage on the upper face of the traveling porous or grate-like surface III. In instances where the municipal waste is liquid sewage, I prefer to provide a floatcontrolled feed device whereby to provide an ini' tially liquid blanket or bed of sewage of substantially uniform thickness, preferably from 2 to 6 inches in thickness. This may be accomplished by delivering the sewage through a nozzle 88 discharging into a hopper 80 having a discharge opening in position to cooperate with and deliver other instances where the sewage is of less moisture content, such for instance, as where the sewage is of yeastcake-like consistency, it may be distributed onto the continuously moving drier or carrier in any approved manner. For instance, the yeastlike sludge may be delivered in lumps in a hopper 92 and expelled therefrom, by means of a ram 84, onto the carrier 30. In some instances I prefer to mix the sewage with garbage and/or ash containing a small amount of combustible material or other fuel-containing ingredient, and in other instances I desire to consume garbage alone or sewage alone. In any of these cases the proper feeding instrumentalities may be provided for distributing the municipal wastes upon the traveling drier for its most effective consumption. In some instances I may add coal or coke to sludge when it is in liquid or non-liquid state and properly feed the resulting mixture in bed-like form onto the traveling drier.

In the operation of the apparatus for carrying out my process, the liquid sewage or other municipal waste is preferably, but not necessarily, formed in a continuous manner as a relatively thin blanket or bed upon the upper surface of the traveling drier. It then passes along over the drying chambers 8, I0, l2, and M, from which the heated aeriform fluid, in the present illustration, heated air, is projected with sufflcient force so that the material of the bed immediately above the heating chamber 8 is caused violently to bubble or boil by means of the aerlform fluid being projected therethrough. As the quickly drying material of the bed passes along it is gradually reduced to combustible dryness and by the time it reaches the burning zone it will be combustibly dry. In order to prevent the premature drying of the bed, I gradually reduce the temperature of the heated air passed through the bed and to this end prefer to cut down the temperature of the gases considerably in the chambers l0, l2, and i l in general to correspond with the reduction in moisture content of the bed. By introducing considerable quantities of relatively cool ri, particularly into chamber ll, premature burning and charring of the sewage, garbage or municipal "waste may be prevented. As the bed passes over the burning zone and under the hood 36, the highly heated air, preferably undiluted with cool air, is forced through the dry sludge, thereby instantly and automatically causing it to burn and to be consumed. The resulting ash may be discharged over the end of the continuous conveyor into a receiver 0, preferably in the form of an ash conveyor adapted to remove the ash to a remote disposal point. The products of combustion including the heated air projected through the bed are then extracted through pipe 40 by means of blower 42 and are passed along with the products of combustion from the furnace or stoker into the heat exchanger. In those cases wherein I dry sewage. it is necessary to provide a stoker or furnace for the purpose of securing additional heat of combustion for carrying out the drying and burning of the sewage. However, in certain instances, when additional fuel material or any material containing sumcient heat units is added to the sewage to be consumed in my drying process. I may continue the process of drying and burning the same merely by utilizing the products of combustion of the sewage, which has previously been admixed with the additional fuel-containing ingredient, or the fuel itself. In this case it is necessary to start the operation or process first by means of the furnace 44 to provide sufllcient heat of combustion to dry the moisture-containing materials and then as soon as these become dry and are burned, sufficient heat of combustion will be furnished in the burning zone whereby to carry on the continuous drying operation in an endless cycle. This type of process contemplates the addition of sufiicient fuel to the sewage by feeding it into the feed hopper or other feeding instrumentality at the front end of the traveling drier. In instances where the drying, burning and destruction of garbage is the purpose to be accomplished, it is generally found that the garbage itself will contain a suflicient number of heat units to effect its own drying without the addition of .other fuel.

In certain instances, instead of providing a furnace for starting the drying operation, the starting may be accomplished by loading that portion of the drier within the combustion chamber 36 with a readily combustible fuel instead of using the furnace as hereinbefore described.

It will be understood that my invention is not confined to a drying operation where the air is utilized as a heatedaeriform fluid because the products of combustion in the burning zone may be directly utilized by rurming the same through a separator for removing ash or other foreign matter, and then these products may be directly projected not only through the drying chambers 8, l0, l2, and I4, suitably diluted with air if desired, but the products may also be projected through the chamber l6 into the burning zone to carry out the burning and consumption of future quantities of municipal waste. In this last instance, these products of combustion can be augmented by the products of combustion from the furnace M or any gases; where the material to be consumed is admixed with sufficient fuel or other combustible, heat-contributing material I may start the process with the furnace, and then carry on the process by the products of combustion generated in the burning zone alone.

It will, of course, be appreciated that in connection with the utilization and adaptability of my process to the destruction of liquid sewage, I may, particularly in treating liquid sewage, partly de-water the same in any desired manner either by evaporation, centrifuging, suction filtration, or otherwise, prior to feeding it onto the traveling drier.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in 'the form, construction and arrangement 01' the parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing its attendant advantages, the iorm herein described being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of demonstrating my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patcntof the United States is:

1. An apparatus for the disposal of municipal waste, comprising means for supporting a layer of waste, means for subjecting the layer to heated gases at progressively decreasing temperature as the waste dries, and means for subjecting the dried waste to heated gases at a suflicient temperature to promote ignition thereof.

2. An apparatus for the disposal of municipal waste, comprising means for supporting the waste as a layer, means for subjecting said layer to heated gases at progressively decreasing temperature as the waste dries, in order to reduce the waste to combustible dryness without burning or charring the same, and means for subjecting the waste,after the same is combustibly dry,to heated gases at a s'uflicient temperature to promote spontaneous ignition thereof.

3. An apparatus for the disposal of municipal waste, including means forming a traveling carrier' for supporting and conveying the waste in the form of a layer, means operatively associated with said conveyor for subjecting the waste to heated gases at relatively high temperature initially during its movement, means operatively associated with the conveyor for subjecting the waste thereafter to heated gases at reduced temperature in order to progressively reduce the waste to combustible dryness, and means for subjecting the dry waste to heated gases at a temperature suflicient to cause spontaneous ignition thereof.

4. An apparatus for the disposal of sludge comprising a conveyor having a perforate surface adapted to support sludge in a substantially viscous state, means providing a plurality isolated chambers beneath the perforate surface of said conveyor, means for subjecting the sludge on the conveyor to heated gases at temperatures progressively decreasing from chamber to chamberas the waste dries and means for causing the combustion of said dried sludge over the last of said chambers.

5. An apparatus for disposing of sewage comprising an endless, sewage receiving conveyor,

means forming with said conveyor a drying zone comprising a plurality of spaced heating chambers, means for subjecting the sewage to heated gases at temperatures which progressively decrease from chamber to chamber as the sewage dries, means forming with said conveyor a combustion chamber, and means for subjecting the dried sewage in said combustion chamber to heated gases of a higher temperature to produce combustion of the dried sewage on said conveyor.

6. An apparatus for disposing of sewage comprising an endless, sewage receiving conveyor, means forming with said conveyor a drying zone comprising a plurality of spaced heating chambers, means for subjecting the sewage to heated gases at temperatures which progressively decrease from chamber to chamber as the sewage dries, means forming with said conveyor a combustion chamber, means for subjecting the dried sewage in said combustion chamber to heated gases of a higher temperature to produce combustion of the dried sewage on said conveyor, and means for recirculating the combustion gases from said combustion chamber through said drying chambers.

JOSEPH HARRINGTON. 

